In work apparatus such as brushcutters, edge cutters or the like, a relatively long drive shaft housing is provided between a drive motor and its housing, on the one hand, and a driven rotatable work tool on the other hand. During operation, vibration problems can result in connection with the interaction between the drive motor and the driven work tool.
Accordingly, the drive shaft housing is typically connected to the motor housing via an anti-vibration system in order to avoid such vibration problems. The anti-vibration system must effectively damp occurring vibration problems and at the same time, provide a reliable connection of the drive shaft housing to the motor housing.
Conventional anti-vibration systems employ a clamp, fixed with clamping lugs, on the motor end of the drive shaft housing. The clamping lugs are typically manufactured from plastic or die cast metal. A tubular-shaped damping element made of elastic material is pushed over the clamp. For assembly, the unit comprising the drive shaft housing with the clamp and the damping element is pressed into a corresponding receptacle of the motor housing. The clamping lugs project at the end face beyond the motor housing which requires a correspondingly large amount of space for accommodating the same. The clamping action between the clamp and the drive shaft housing can deteriorate when the material yields, for example, in the case where the clamp is made of plastic. On the other hand, when the clamp is made of die cast aluminum, the clamp is so stiff that it can only adapt to the drive shaft housing to a limited extent.